We'll Save Each Other
by CountTheCrows
Summary: Caroline and Tyler save each other through the years. One shot/complete


We'll Save Each Other

**1999:**

It's the first day of school and already Tyler Lockwood has gotten himself in trouble. Of course. Even at six he knows that he's an embarrassment to his family. He forgot to bring the rest of his school supplies with him, and if he doesn't have them he'll have to sit in the time out corner and then catch up on all the work. He feels like crying, but he won't. He's an important person, as he's told over and over by his mother and father. A Lockwood, and as his father loves to remind him, Lockwood men don't cry.

Suddenly, a pretty blonde girl wearing a light blue dress sits next to him. She smiles and puts her hand out for him.

"I'm Caroline Forbes." He just rolls his eyes.

"I know who you are. Your mom is the police lady."

"Yeah, she is." She stops, and then giggles. "You know, when we were little, we used to play together. My mom told me."

"Oh." He doesn't feel like talking, especially to a girl. He tries to look around for another place to sit because he can only imagine that she'll keep talking and talking. But, she doesn't. Instead she puts her crayons and colored pencils in the middle of the desk.

"You can use them too."

And so he does, and he doesn't get in trouble that first day. Oh sure, there were other days he'd get in trouble, but that day Caroline offered him a saving grace, and he'd never forget it.

**2003:**

Caroline wants to stay in bed forever and never leave. Her dad left and the whole town knows why, he's gay. He fell in love with a man, and now nobody will stop talking about it. The other kids make fun of her and they say really mean things about her daddy. But Liz Forbes doesn't want to hear it.

"You're going to school. You need to face adversity." Whatever the hell that meant.

So, Caroline goes to school and is sitting in class when Billy Palmer turns around and starts in with her.

"I heard that if one if your parents is gay, it means you'll be gay too. It's in your genes!"

And all the other boys and girls start laughing.

"No, it's not. It's not genetic, Billy."

"How do you know? Your dad got married. Maybe you'll get married and realize you're gay too. Everyone stay away from Caroline! She's got the gay gene."

Another idiot, Sean Picker chimed in.

"No wonder she doesn't have a boyfriend. Caroline likes girls!"

The whole entire class erupted in laughter as she ran out of the classroom into the bathroom where she stayed until lunch.

When she came out and joined Bonnie and Elena they were talking about the latest gossip.

"I can't believe Tyler did that! He's going to be in soooo much trouble."

Caroline approached the table.

"What did Tyler do?"

Bonnie and Elena just looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

"Uh, he punched Billy."

"He _what? _Why?'

"Um, cause of you."

Caroline was stunned. Her? She and Tyler barely interacted.

"Me? Really?

"Yeah, he told Billy to stop talking about you like that, and when Billy wouldn't Tyler punched him." Caroline looked around the schoolyard to see Tyler sporting an ice pack on his hand. She got up.

"I'll be right back." She sat down next to Tyler on the swings.

"What do _you___want?"

"I just wanted to say thanks." Tyler shrugged.

"I didn't do it for you." Caroline turned her head away from Tyler so she could smile.

"Oh, of course not."

"I didn't," he insisted adamantly.

"Okay."

**2008:**

He's such a fucking idiot. How can he be failing math, really? What's the point of even questioning how, the point is he is failing math and if he fails a class he can't play any sport. And he _needs_ to play a sport. He just has so much aggression, and he doesn't know why.

His dad makes it clear that he had better get his ass straight, or else. So, he goes to the student tutoring center. He's supposed to meet his tutor today. He hopes it's not a wimpy guy, but some hot girl.

And to his chagrin it's Caroline. Damn.

His relationship with Caroline has been somewhere between rocky and non-existent. They're friends, but on the cusp, only because they hang in the same circle. Matt is his best friend and he's dating Elena, and Elena is one of Caroline's best friends so _of course_ they all hang out. He can't pinpoint it but Caroline bugs him. She's just so peppy. Doesn't anything get this girl down?

"Tyler, are you paying attention?" He smiles cockily.

"I guess not." She rolls her eyes.

"No wonder you're failing."

"Excuse me?"

"You obviously spent zero effort on this. I swear Tyler, keep this up and you're not going to amount to much." He snorted.

"Like you? Caroline, you're not fooling anyone. You think you're going to end up being this superstar, but you won't. You'll aim for the stars and all you'll get is crap. You want to know why? Because you're fake. You're annoying and nobody believes this act you put on. I'm not going to amount to much? Please. You'll end up getting pregnant from the first guy you sleep with and end up a lonely, depressed, stay-at-home mom who realizes when she's 30 that she peaked at 18."

Caroline just stared at him for what seemed like forever.

"Fuck you." Tyler got up and walked out, but before he did he turned around.

"No thanks."

**2010:**

Caroline is running for student body president and boy is it harder than she thought. She's stuck at school one day putting up posters when who comes into the hallway but none other than Tyler Lockwood. She groaned. They hadn't spoken in two years.

Oh sure, they nodded when they were around each other, but no real conversations, nothing of substance. He was downright mean and she didn't need that.

She's climbing the ladder to put up a poster when she suddenly slips and falls, right on her butt.

"Shit!"

She looks down at the nasty scrape on her arm which is bleeding.

"Are you okay?" she hears a voice come from beside her. She pulls herself up.

"No, not really, but why would _you___care?" He comes to her side to help her walk.

"I'm sorry about that day. I really am. I just, I get angry sometimes."

"Well, welcome to the world."

"Yeah."

They look at each other for a minute. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. No big."

"Okay, then I guess I'll see you around. Bye Caroline."

"Bye Tyler."

**Late 2010:**

Everything has changed. Caroline is a vampire and Tyler is a werewolf.

She was just with him through his first transformation and it was the worst thing she's ever experienced. She wanted to take away all of his pain. It's ironic, Tyler was the boy who had made her life miserable at many points in her life, and now it was like they had this unbreakable bond.

She wanted to save him, that's all there was to it.

**2011:**

Tyler is frantic. His mom promised him Caroline would be okay and she wasn't. He needs her, he needs to be with her, to have her in his arms. He prays that she's still alive because if he's not, well, he doesn't know what he'll do.

He goes to Liz, who has an idea where she might be, and she's right.

Caroline's being held captive by her father, the bastard.

Liz allows him to go get Caroline. He unchains her and puts back her daylight ring on her finger, aware of the possible foreshadowing, especially as he carries her in his arms over the threshold.

He goes with them back to Caroline's house and lets her have her moment with her mother. Then he enters the room.

"Would this be a bad time to give you crap for sneaking out on me?" She laughs, and offers him a spot in her bed. He takes it and lets her lie on him.

She starts to cry. "He hates me. My father hates me."

He sooths her the best he can.

He wants to save her, that's all there is to it.

He ends up falling asleep, but wakes up to Caroline sitting up in bed. 

"What's wrong?"

"How can we do this?"

"Do what?" He's confused.

"_Us_. You and me. It's impossible. We're bred to be enemies. Someone will always want us dead. I feel like we'll always need to be saved." Tyler shrugged.

"So, we'll save each other. We're not the vampire and the werewolf. We're Caroline and Tyler."

Caroline looked at him and smiled.

"Yeah, we'll save each other."


End file.
